As Blaine took Kurt's hand at the bottom of the staircase and led him through the "shortcut" to the senior common room, his whole view on love changed to believing in love at first sight. There was just something extraordinary about the gorgeous blue-eyed boy that seemed completely awed by the fact that the Warblers were looked up to at Dalton.
Maybe his assessment of them being like "rock stars" was a bit over the top, but not by much. In a school of 600 students, a singing group that only admitted 20 or fewer students each year was definitely at the top of the admired student groups. It ranked right up there with their excellent soccer and fencing teams.
After their performance, everyone had to go back to class, but Blaine took the time to make arrangements for Kurt to come back to Dalton the next day. He told Kurt to stop by the office and ask for a visitor's pass as a prospective student, which would allow him access to the main school building.
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Kurt went back to Dalton the next day, despite the long drive and met with Blaine, David and Wes in the café area.
"Can I ask you all a question?" Kurt asked barely speaking above a whisper.
"Sure," Blaine responded.
"Are all of you gay?"
They all smiled and laughed, but not in a mean way.
Blaine answered, "No. Well, I am, but these two aren't. They both have girlfriends."
David spoke next, "This isn't a gay school. We just have a zero-tolerance harassment policy."
Wes continued, "Everybody gets treated the same, no matter what they are. It's pretty simple."
Kurt sat there dumbfounded, mouth open, not knowing how to respond, just processing the possibility that such a place existed.
Blaine asked David and Wes, "Would you guys excuse us?"
Wes started to stand up, "Take it easy, Kurt."
"It was nice to meet you, Kurt," David said as he got up from the table.
"You too," Kurt responded automatically.
David and Wes walked away from the table.
"I assume that you're having trouble at school?" Blaine asked.
"I'm the only out gay student at my school. And kids teased me before I even came out. I was in a glass closet, I suppose you could say. There's this neanderthal that has harassed me for ages, since forever really, but recently he's taken to making my life a living hell."
Blaine nodded in understanding.
"I've tried to stay strong, but nobody seems to notice. It's like it happens right in front of them. They see it, and then it's like it never happened - even the teachers."
"I was bullied at my last school. I went to the staff and they said things that made it sound like they cared, but never actually did anything to make it stop. I had kept what was happening from my parents because I hadn't come out to my dad at the time. Over the summer, I decided to tell him that I was gay and tell both of them what had been going on at school. They enrolled me here for high school. I know that's not an option for everyone because the tuition here is high, unfortunately."
"I'm sure it is. It's amazing here."
"Kurt, is there anything you can do to protect yourself?"
"Not unless I agree to let the guys in Glee go all Secret Service and follow me around everywhere. There are others who bully me, not just the one guy. He's just the most intense, like it's personal, but I have no idea why."
"'Secret Service' sounds over the top as far as your ability to be human. No one wants to be tailed all the time."
"No, I don't. Plus, they would do it for like a week and then some of them would start to slack off when the bullying died down, and then it would escalate quickly to make up for lost time."
"I can see that. I know we don't live that close to each other, but my parents live on the northwest side of Columbus, not that far from the zoo. I go home on weekends sometimes. We could meet up on a Saturday or Sunday, someplace halfway between Dublin and Lima."
"That sounds nice. You have my number. You can let me know."
"If you need to talk, just text me. We have to leave our phones on silent all day, but I check my texts between most classes. Would you like a tour before you go? You drove a long way to leave without seeing the school." Blaine was sincerely hoping that Kurt would say yes.
"Sure, I'd like that." Blaine smiled.
Kurt stood and pushed his chair in. Blaine approached him and put his hand on Kurt's shoulder and making an arc with his other hand. "This way, my good sir. Educational opulence awaits."
Kurt laughed. "Then lead on, oh erudite minstrel, assuming of course that you can play a stringed instrument."
"Indeed, I can. A guitar."
Kurt laughed.
Blaine showed Kurt around the school for about an hour. They talked and got to know each other a little. They found that they had quite a few interests in common and never seemed to run out of things to talk about.
Kurt couldn't remember ever laughing and smiling so much in a single day, much less a single afternoon.
Blaine was already planning a trip home for the weekend just so he could call Kurt and meet up with him again.
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A few days later, on Friday, Kurt was reading a text from Blaine and walking down the hall. Karofsky walked straight into him and intentionally sent his phone flying and shoved him really hard into the lockers. A girl was standing no more than three feet from where Kurt hit the lockers, but she turned away after it happened as if she didn't see anything.
Being at Dalton and taking a tour of the school and being greeted pleasantly by everyone that Blaine introduced him to presented him with a world that he hadn't previously known existed. It made the world he was living in that much more miserable. Kurt had put up with enough. A switch flipped and he took off after Karofsky, following him into the locker room, a place Kurt generally avoided like the plague.
"I am talking to you!" Kurt screamed as he slammed the door back on the way into the locker room.
"The girls' locker room is next door."
"What is your problem? That was a $200 phone, which is irreparably damaged."
"I don't care about your phone. Get out of here."
"What are you so scared of?"
"Besides you sneaking in here to peek at my junk?"
"Yeah. Every straight guy's nightmare - that all us gays are secretly out to molest and convert you. Well, guess what, ham hock. You're not my type."
"That right?"
"Yea, I don't dig on chubby boys who sweat too much and are gonna be bald by the time they're 30."
"Do not push me, Hummel."
"You gonna hit me? Do it."
"Don't push me," Karofsky yelled as he slammed his locker shut.
"Hit me because it's not gonna change who I am. You can't punch the gay out of me any more than I can punch the ignoramus out of you."
By this point, Karofsky was red in the face and screaming. "Get out of my face!"
Kurt didn't back down and kept egging Karofsky on. "You are nothing but a scared little boy who can't handle how extraordinarily ordinary you are!"
By that point, they were standing very close together. Karofsky lunged for Kurt and reached to grab the sides of Kurt's face. Kurt saw Karofsky leaning in to kiss him and he managed to get his hand up and block him from succeeding. His lips pressed against the palm of Kurt's left hand, while Kurt leaned back and used his excellent balance to use his left leg to push Karofsky back.
Kurt yelled, "Don't even think about it!" as Karofsky attempted to step toward him again.
Karofsky hit his hand against the locker again and stormed out of the locker room.
Kurt left quickly, not wanting to still be there when Karofsky realized that he left all of his stuff behind on the locker room bench. He went back out to the hallway and collected his satchel and smashed phone up off the floor. He realized that while the screen was smashed that the phone itself still seemed to be working.
He went to the nurse's office and claimed to have a terrible headache, which wasn't entirely untrue. She let him lie down for the period and got him up five minutes before the bell was going to ring, gave him a pass to give his teacher and sent him on his way.
Kurt's day improved dramatically when he got a text from Blaine at lunch asking him to meet him in Bellefontaine the next day. He responded with a definite yes.
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Saturday morning, Kurt coifed and dressed himself to the nines. He was ready to leave an hour early and decided to take off, just to avoid sitting around the house anymore. He arrived in Bellefontaine and just drove around town for a while. Eventually, he parked and got out and walked around the downtown area. There was a farmer's market going on. He bought a few vegetables and a small bouquet of flowers. He put the vegetables in his back seat, drove to the restaurant, parked and carried the flowers in with him. He hoped it wasn't too forward, but he really wanted to do it, so he did.
He was seated by the hostess and sat on the side of the table that allowed him to see the entry door. He had waited for about five minutes before Blaine showed up, looking absolutely gorgeous. He had only seen him in the Dalton uniform, which he looked good in. Today though, he had only lightly tamed his amazing curls. He wore fitted dark-wash Levi's, Sperrys, a round necked burgundy tee with a gray pullover v-neck sweater with the sleeves pushed up showing his marvelously muscled forearms.
He saw Kurt as he came in the door and seated himself across from Kurt. As he sat, Kurt picked the small bouquet up and pushed it in front of him.
"Aww, Kurt, they're beautiful. Thank you."
"You're welcome. Thanks for inviting me."
"I'm going to just be straight with you."
Kurt laughed, covering his mouth.
Blaine rolled his eyes and rephrased his statement. "I'm going to confess something."
"What?"
"I actually only went home this weekend so that I could pretend that I was just casually at home this weekend, so maybe you'd come out to lunch with me."
"Well, you don't have to make up trips home to get me to go out with you. Just ask. I can drive and meet you half way. Maybe there are other places we could meet next time," Kurt went to pull his phone out and remembered the screen was smashed too late to put it back in his pocket before Blaine saw.
"What happened to your phone?"
"The neanderthal I told you about knocked it out of my hand yesterday in the hall and it hit the lockers on the way to the floor."
"I see."
Kurt looked on the map, doing his best to read it through the fractured glass.
"You need a new screen."
"I know, but there's no Apple store in Lima."
"There's one north of Dalton."
"Next time I visit Dalton, I'll add a trip to the Apple store to see if they can replace my screen."
Blaine noticed how Kurt's dark royal blue cardigan brought out his eye color, which was the most beautiful blue-gray-maybe green mix. He couldn't quite tell, but they were blue and stunning and he was trying not to get caught staring. He had managed to see that Kurt was wearing black skinny jeans and calf-high black lace up Doc Martins. The patterned scarf he had tied at the neck of his dark gray button down was a juxtaposition to the bitch boots. He liked it.
"Since you confessed something to me, I'll do the same."
"What?"
"I love your curls."
"Seriously?"
"Definitely."
"I've spent my life trying to tame them."
"I like them wild and free."
"I'll take that under advisement," he said with a smile.
The waitress finally brought them menus and glasses of water. She recited the daily specials in a monotone so boring it made what she was saying hard to follow. She walked away giving them time to consider their order.
Kurt looked through his menu and opted for the chef salad with chicken and ranch dressing. It seemed like a safe choice in a new place. Blaine opted for a burger and fries using the same logic.
The waitress came back a few minutes later and took their orders and their menus.
They talked and ate and talked more. Neither of them wanted lunch to end. Eventually, the waitress cleared their plates and they had to concede that it was time to leave the restaurant. They stood in the restaurant parking lot.
"Would you like to go to the movies?" Blaine asked. "I have absolutely no idea what's playing or where the movie theater is, but do you want to go?"
"Yes."
Blaine used his phone to look up movies. "There's a place showing Toy Story 3 this afternoon.
"Yes! I love Disney movies."
"Me too." Blaine showed him the location of the theater. "I'll meet you there, okay?"
"See you in a few minutes."
Both of them arrived in the movie theater parking lot a few minutes later. They met on the sidewalk.
Blaine said, "It doesn't start for 30 minutes, but let's get our tickets now."
They went inside and they each bought a ticket. Kurt slipped his into his wallet. Blaine did too.
"We could walk around outside for a while. It's actually nice out today," Kurt suggested.
Blaine followed him out the door. They walked around the side of the building, which was along the property line with another building and was tree lined.
"Can I ask you something?" Kurt asked.
"Sure."
"Why did you take my hand on the staircase the other day?"
"The real answer?"
"Please."
"I wanted to."
"So, if I were to hold your hand now?"
Blaine reached out for Kurt's hand and Kurt took it. They both smiled and kept walking. The back of the building was near a tree line with another property as well. They walked around the edge of the building.
"I have another question."
"You're full of questions," Blaine teased.
"I know. I always have been. Have you ever dated anyone?"
"No. Have you?"
"For a couple of days last year, I fake dated a friend of mine on the cheerleading squad. She's in Glee too. I was trying to be straight. My dad's girlfriend has a son our age and he and my dad were hitting it off. They like the same things and I was struggling. I felt like I was losing my dad. I dressed butch and sang a Mellancamp song in Glee and my friend asked me out, saying that she had thought I was 'capital G gay', but if I wasn't she wanted to keep her perfect record for dating all of the guys at school."
"She's dated all of the guys?"
"I don't think so. She's a little ditzy, but very sweet. Anyway, I was desperate to be the son my dad would like and we dated for a few days. She wanted to kiss, so we did, but I didn't feel anything. Although she seemed to be getting into it and I had to keep moving her hands back to a reasonable location."
Blaine laughed. "I understand. My dad tried bonding with me by rebuilding a car. We don't have much in common. I hadn't come out to him yet, but by the end of the summer I did, like I told you the other day. It actually cut the tension between us when I was honest with him. I don't think we'll ever have much in common, but at least we're honest with each other now."
"Yeah. I came out to my dad not long after that. He told me that he had known since I was three. I spent a lot of time worrying for no reason. We're fine now. He's a bit overprotective because the guys in Lima are generally awful to me. He worries."
"I can imagine. I mean, I've been concerned for you and I've only known you a few days. It has to be really hard on him knowing that you're bullied."
"He doesn't really know much. I don't tell him. He had a heart arrhythmia and it caused him to black out and he ended up in a coma for a while not long ago – earlier this fall. He's better now, but I haven't told him anything that's been going on since the bullying has escalated. I don't want to worry him more and cause him more stress."
"I can understand that, but not telling him is a form of lying."
"I'll work on it."
They had stopped walking by that point. Neither one of them wanted walk around the corner and let go of each other.
"Is this a date?" Kurt asked.
"Do you want it to be?"
Kurt nodded.
"Me too."
Kurt smiled and so did Blaine.
"Would it be okay if I kissed you?"
Blaine stepped closer and nodded. Kurt closed the distance between them and they kissed, lips just barely touching.
"Wow. That was nothing like kissing a girl."
Blaine laughed and closed the space again and tipped his head up and kissed Kurt again with slightly more pressure, but completely chaste. "I agree on the wow part. I can't confirm or deny the kissing a girl part. I'm not imagining it to be all that pleasant."
"Not really. But kissing you..." Kurt closed the gap again and they kissed a third time, still chaste, but this time Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt's neck and Kurt wrapped his around Blaine's waist. Kurt's bitch boots gave him almost an additional two inches on Blaine making Kurt a good four inches taller since Blaine was wearing completely flat shoes.
"We better get going inside or we're going to miss the movie."
"Alright," Kurt agreed. "But how about a few more kisses?"
Blaine smiled and leaned in tipping his chin up and Kurt met him. Kurt kissed him and right before they were about to break apart, he gently licked Blaine's upper lip causing him to moan briefly.
"God, that is amazing."
"I agree," Kurt said. He removed his hands from Blaine's waist.
Blaine reluctantly unwrapped his arms from Kurt's neck to find that Kurt had his hand out offering it to Blaine, who immediately took it and intertwined their fingers.
"I'll understand if you want to let go before we get around the side."
"No way." Blaine squeezed his hand and walked confidently around the corner and down the side of the building and into the theater.
They had both seen the movie before and chose seats in the back of the auditorium. When the lights went down, Kurt pushed the arm rest up and moved his arm to make room for Blaine to scoot closer so that Kurt could wrap his arm around Blaine's shoulders. Before the credits started to play, Kurt moved his arm and Blaine sat back up in his seat. They stayed to watch the outtakes during the credits and then they walked back out to the sidewalk.
"I need to head home in an hour and a half, but we could sit in the backseat of my Navigator and talk more."
"Okay." Blaine followed him to the Navigator. Kurt clicked the locks and they climbed in the back and he relocked the doors. Blaine noticed the back windows were tinted darker than the front windows, giving them more privacy.
"I'm guessing that you're a junior like me or you wouldn't have a car already."
"Yeah, I turned 17 a couple of weeks ago."
"I turned 17 the end of middle of August, so I'm two months older than you."
"Earlier you said your dad has a girlfriend with a son our age, but you've never mentioned your mom."
"She died when I was eight."
"That's sad."
"It was. Until my dad started dating Carole last school year, it had just been the two of us since then."
"That's a big change then, to go from the two of you to having a potential stepbrother and stepmother."
"It is. Carole's really nice. I don't think it will be long now before my dad, whose name is Burt, asks her to marry him. The scare with the coma will spur him to get his act together and ask her."
They kept talking about their families and their interests and music and fashion and any and everything that came to mind. Eventually, Kurt realized that he had to leave or he would be late.
"Can I kiss you again before you get out?" Kurt asked.
"I'd like that." Blaine scooted toward Kurt. They both turned to face each other. Kurt wrapped his hand around the side of Blaine's face and his fingers were running through Blaine's hair near his hairline. They kissed several times.
Kurt gently moved his hand up and asked with his eyes.
Blaine smiled. "You can touch my hair."
Kurt gently slid his hand higher and ran his fingers through Blaine's hair. "They're as soft as I had imagined." Kurt blushed and slid his hand back out of the curls.
"I'm glad you like them," Blaine smiled.
"I really do." He blushed even more. "I really need to go. I had a great time. Maybe I can drive to Dalton one day this week and we can go out for an early dinner or something."
"Sure. I'd like that." Blaine gave Kurt one more quick kiss and opened his door and got out. Kurt moved to the front seat and headed back to Lima with the biggest smile on his face.
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The following Tuesday, Burt and Carole showed up at the school and found Kurt who led them to Finn's locker. Carole showed both boys her engagement ring. Kurt agreed to be their wedding planner and offered the New Directions as the musical entertainment for their reception.
He was already on a high from his date with Blaine the previous weekend and the impending wedding gave him a reason he could share with everyone about why he was so happy.
The New Directions met after school to work on a set list for the reception. Kurt passed around a sign up sheet for solos and told the potential soloists to be prepared on Friday. They worked on a few small group numbers for the rest of the hour.
Wednesday and Thursday Kurt did everything he could to stay focused on his schoolwork. Due to the change in after school plans, he had to move his date with Blaine to the weekend. The groups practiced after school again.
Friday rolled around and Kurt was carrying the wedding planner binder around in addition to some of his textbooks. He was using any free time he had to work on the seating chart, the table layout, and the order of the songs. He had already looked through the dresses that the school had in storage and found ones that would work for the girls. He just needed to find the matching cummerbunds and bow ties. He was hoping to find those in the costume closet.
Karofsky hadn't really laid off the bullying, and Kurt still tried to steer clear of him whenever possible. Now, that he knew what Karofsky was hiding, he knew why he was being targeted. Karofsky approached him at his locker on Friday morning. He took the cake topper that Kurt had in his hand and asked if he could have it, taking it without giving Kurt a chance to answer.
In a very low voice, he said, "If you tell anyone, I will kill you." and walked away. Kurt tried to ignore the panic he felt, but struggled. He got himself together enough not to be late to his next class. He made it through the rest of his classes without his teachers noticing anything off about him.
After school, those who had wanted to perform solos sang for Kurt. Everyone did a good job. He wrote down the name of each piece and told everyone that he would have the set list order ready on Monday.
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Kurt got up early and drove to Bellefontaine to meet Blaine. Kurt had a boyfriend. The very thought of it brought a huge smile to Kurt's face that lasted the whole drive.
This time they opted to meet at a park, even though it was getting a bit chilly for meeting outside. Kurt ate before he left and arrived at the park at 8:00 as they had agreed. They had made arrangements to meet so early because Kurt had to be back in Lima by noon to meet with his dad, Carole, and Finn to go out to lunch and then back home to finalize all of the details for the wedding, which was only a week a way.
He arrived about five minutes early and stayed in his Navigator until he saw Blaine pull up in his Volvo station wagon. He got out, locked his doors, walked over to the station wagon, and opened Blaine's door for him. Blaine got out and they took a walk on the trail through the lightly wooded section of the park. Kurt offered his hand and Blaine took it. It wasn't quite as nice as the weekend before because the cold air had pushed last weekend's blast of summer out to the Atlantic and they were both wearing coats and gloves, but it was still comforting.
They talked about the wedding and Kurt skirted the issue of the bullying as much as possible since he didn't want what little time he got with Blaine to be taken up with talking about terrible things. He refocused the conversation on the reception and the song list he was working on. Once they had made it through the whole trail, they were both pretty cold. Kurt offered the backseat of his Navigator so they could continue talking someplace warmer.
Kurt got out his notebook that had the list of solos that people were going to sing as well as the group numbers he had chosen for the small groups to perform. He let Blaine help him work on the set list. They horsed around singing the songs themselves in the back seat of the car.
"You're a counter tenor," Blaine said after hearing Kurt sing "Because You Loved Me."
"I am."
"Your voice is beautiful. Are you singing lead at Sectionals?"
"No. I'm never featured, but I'm singing a song at the wedding." Kurt quickly refocused the conversation. "So, that makes 14 solos, if we put my duet with Finn at the beginning as a 'solo'. Twenty songs at three to four minutes each should fill the hour and a half of the reception. We'll put all of the slow songs first while people eat and then all of the more upbeat songs at the end so people can dance."
"Sounds like a good plan."
Kurt looked at his list again. "Except that I'm going to move my duet with Finn to the middle right before the dancing since we're each writing something to say before it. It can be the break point between listening to the music and getting up to dance to the music." Kurt started thinking about the song order again.
Blaine took Kurt's hand in his again.
"Sorry, I zoned out. I'm sorry to be working on this when we don't get much time together."
"It's fine. I love music. Maybe we could just sing one of those songs before you have to head back to Lima." Blaine looked through the list trying to pick something fun that didn't say "I love you" in it and end up making things tense, even though that's where he felt like this was going with the two of them. He didn't want to make Kurt feel uncomfortable. "Who picked 'Islands in the Stream'?"
"Oh, I picked all of the group and duet numbers. That's one of my dad's favorite songs. He's a big Dolly Parton fan. Do you know the words?"
"Yeah. My dad's a big fan of hers as well, even though he keeps it hidden from his uppity friends." Blaine laughed.
"Alright."
Blaine found a karaoke version of the song in the original key. He started the music. The two of them sang and laughed.
"That was fun. Your director is dumb not to feature you," Blaine pointed out.
Kurt blushed. "Well, Rachel usually sings lead for the girls' parts and the ballads, and Finn sings the male lead. There's not really much room for a guy who sings like a girl as the lead on anything."
"You don't sing like a girl. What's your range?"
"A2 to A5."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, why?"
"That's amazing. A 17 year old with a three-octave range and your director doesn't get how that could be used to your group's advantage?"
"I guess not."
"Well, don't listen to anyone who tells you that you sing like a girl. Singing beautifully is not the same as singing like a girl. Pavarotti sings beautifully. And there are plenty of girls who sing horribly. Someone's vocal range and the sound they produce isn't male or female. While counter tenors are rare, there have obviously been enough of them for there to be a word to describe them. Don't let people make you feel bad for something that's beautiful." He squeezed Kurt's hand.
"Thank you."
"Any time. So, what's the most recent song that you sang in Glee?"
"'Le Jazz Hot.'"
"Really?"
"I made the suit to go with it and everything. I have a video if you want to watch it."
"Definitely."
Kurt asked him for his email address and sent him the video file since his phone screen was still broken, making it nearly impossible to watch the video. Blaine downloaded the video and waited for it to buffer. He pressed play and watched. He had a hard time focusing on the vocals while watching Kurt strut around and dance.
"That was...utterly fantastic."
"You think so? No one really said much about it. Well, Sam liked it. The other guys were mostly indifferent."
"Do the people in your group actually know anything about music?"
"They like to sing and most of them are good. So, that's why they're in Glee. Mr. Schue taught everyone who didn't know how to read music how to last year. And Sam is new, but he plays guitar so he already knew how to read music. So, they do know something about music."
"That wasn't really what I meant, but okay. At least they can read music."
"Mr. Schue gives us lessons each week on different music styles and their relevance to music history."
"Well, that's a start, I suppose. Anyway, that's neither here nor there. That song was hot."
Kurt blushed. "Thanks?"
"Why the question at the end?"
"Anything about me and the word 'hot' in he same sentence isn't something I'm accustomed to hearing."
"Are the people you go to school with blind?"
"What?"
"Never mind. Come closer." Blaine leaned toward Kurt.
Kurt leaned forward.
Blaine kissed him. "Everything about you is beautiful."
Kurt blushed.
"Last week you asked me why I took your hand. I answered truthfully, but not completely. I took your hand because I wanted to, but also because it made you real. You are seriously the more gorgeous guy I'd ever met and taking your hand proved that you were not just a figment of my imagination standing there in your designer clothes looking like a freakin' model on the staircase."
Kurt blushed an even deeper shade of red and tried to look away.
"Hey, don't look away." Blaine gently touched the side of Kurt's face and turned him back towards him. He ran his thumb along Kurt's jaw, which made Kurt shiver. Blaine smiled. He put his hand back down. "So, the wedding is next Saturday?"
"Yes, in the afternoon."
"So, does that mean you're free next Sunday?"
"As far as I know. Dad and Carole will be home though. They're not going on a honeymoon until Thanksgiving week. They're going to leave the Friday before Thanksgiving and come back on Wednesday so that we can prepare food on Thursday and either eat Thursday or Friday. I'm not sure what they decided on."
"So, how about we get together next Sunday?"
"I'd love to. Maybe you can look up some places we could go since it's getting cold."
"I'll do that. I'll text you with ideas. I know you have to get going." Blaine squeezed Kurt's hand.
"I do or I'll be late." He turned toward Blaine and made a bold move on his part and took his glove off and slipped his hand along the side of Blaine's face into the curls above his ears.
Blaine closed his eyes and enjoyed the intimacy of Kurt's gentle touch. He leaned forward and kissed him gently. "I'll see you next week."
Kurt smiled. "Alright." He kissed Blaine one last time and Blaine climbed out of the back seat and got back in his own car. Kurt waved as he climbed into the front seat.
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Karofsky was being even more creepy during the day Monday, finding Kurt when he was the most vulnerable - when no one Kurt knew was around. He was shoved into lockers several times, one time Karofsky looked around and when he saw no one paying attention, he drew his index finger down Kurt's chest and reminded him to keep his mouth shut.
That afternoon, Karofsky had grown bolder and shoved Kurt hard enough to make him lose his footing and he hit his ribs against an open locker and slid to the floor. Mr. Schue had witness that assault. He called Kurt to his office and was very patronizing about the whole situation victim blaming Kurt saying that "he was letting it get to him", as if having his life threatened and possibly sporting a cracked rib or two was something minimal that could easily be avoided and/or ignored.
He doubled down to get through his afternoon classes and managed to sneak two ibuprofen in once he was in the choir room after school.
Kurt gave everyone the set list. The people on the first half practiced their numbers in the order Kurt had chosen. He listened for the flow and transition between songs and was pleased. He let everyone go and told them that everyone else would practice the next day.
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Mike and Artie took it upon themselves to confront Karofsky on Kurt's behalf without his knowledge. It didn't go well. Karofsky ended up knocking Mike into Artie's wheelchair causing it to tip over. Sam was in the locker room and stepped up to Mike and Artie's defense and got into a fight with Karofsky, which was stopped when Coach Beiste heard them fighting and came in and broke it up.
Kurt was breaking at the seams and trying to keep it all inside and under wraps. He thanked the three of them in class, but tried to move on and get the topic off of him. They went ahead with Mr. Schue's lesson and Kurt tried to keep a stoic face and focus on the upcoming wedding and his budding relationship with Blaine.
After school everyone stayed and rehearsed the second half of the music set. He rearranged the order of a couple of the songs, but was pleased. He praised everyone for their hard work and thanked everyone. He reminded them that there would be no more rehearsals as a group and that they needed to be at the reception hall in the church on time if they weren't planning on attending the ceremony itself.
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Burt showed up right after everyone except Finn had left. He and Finn needed dance lessons and Mr. Schue had given Kurt permission to use the choir room. He gave his dad some basic instructions and left him to practice the steps.
"Come on, Finn. No chickening out. I did it. You gotta do it to," Burt said as he danced himself around the room. "My feet are moving and there's music."
Brad had graciously stayed behind to play the piano for the dance lesson.
Kurt reached for Finn's hands and he hesitated, "Can we shut the door? I'm not really comfortable with people watching."
Kurt put his arms down. "What are you talking about? You danced in front of a thousand people at Regionals."
Finn reluctantly took Kurt's hand. At that very moment, Karofsky looked into the choir room and saw Finn and Kurt dancing together. He paused and made eye contact with Finn, who dropped Kurt's hands, causing Kurt to look where Finn was looking and he saw Karofsky in the hall making a rude face and making his wrist go limp. By then, Burt noticed that Kurt and Finn had both stopped dancing and were looking through the doorway into the hall. He stepped forward in time to catch a glimpse of Karofsky's limp wrist gay pose.
"What the hell was that?"
"That was nothing, Dad."
"That was not nothing."
"That guy was making fun of you. What the hell's his name?"
"Tell him, Kurt." Finn urged Kurt to tell Burt the truth.
"Tell me what?"
"Tell him, or I will." Finn gave Kurt an ultimatum.
"His name's Dave Karofsky. He's been harassing me for a few weeks now."
"Harassing you how?"
"Just shoving me and giving me a hard time."
"There's more. There's something you're not telling me."
"He threatened to kill me."
Burt backed up, turned, and took off the out of one of the other doors into the choir room.
Finn said, "What? You gotta be kidding me." He turned and saw that Burt had run off. "Burt!" Finn took off after Burt. Kurt took off after Finn.
By the time they had caught up with him, Burt had pinned Karofsky against a bulletin board.
"What the hell?" Karofsky asked.
"You like picking on people?" Burt asked him.
"What?"
"Why don't you try me?"
FInn yelled, "Burt, stop."
Kurt added, "Please, you're sick. Come on."
Burt let Karofsky go and turned on Finn. "What the hell have you been doing while this is all going on, huh?" Burt walked away angry.
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The next morning started off with Kurt, Burt, Mr. Karofsky and David in Sue's office. Sue summarily expelled David citing that she couldn't have one student threatening the life of another.
Kurt was relieved. It was over. There were still other bullies, but none that had a huge secret to hide and were targeting him for personal reasons.
The next few days at home were full of so much planning and wedding prep that no one had time to talk about much of anything else.
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Saturday morning arrived. Kurt left with Carole to go to the church and make sure that everything was ready for the day. Finn stayed back with Burt until later in the morning before heading over.
All the wedding plans made Kurt think about whether he'd ever have his own wedding and what it would be like. He loved the process and the pageantry, but he really thought that if he ever got married, he'd like it to be a really small event with just a few important people there to share it with.
His mind flashed to Blaine. He really wished he had been able to invite his boyfriend to the wedding, but it was so new and he hadn't told his dad and Carole about Blaine yet.
He realized that he was thinking too much and not paying attention to what he was doing. He refocused and got back to being in charge. Carole's attendants had arrived - her sister and her two nieces. Tina had agreed to help him style everyone's hair.
Carole had opted to go with a black and white theme. Each dress had a different small floral pattern and they were stylish, the type of dress that the three women could actually wear to go out to dinner somewhere nice. They weren't shiny or shimmery. They were a rayon blend that flowed beautifully as they walked. Kurt was surprised to see how lovely the three of them looked in the dresses. They all had fairly pale skin, but very dark brown curly hair and warm brown eyes.
Kurt moved to the men's dressing area once he had finished with his hairdressing tasks. The men were wearing black suits with cummerbunds and ties that matched the ladies' dresses. Kurt and Finn had a second set to change into after the ceremony so that they matched the New Directions. Burt had Cassius as his best man. He'd been Burt's best friend for ages. And of course, Kurt and Finn were the other two attendants.
Everyone was ready in plenty of time. Everyone lined up, marched in, and breaking with tradition, Burt and Carole walked up the aisle together at the end of the processional. Carole found the idea of a man giving her away to be married ridiculous given that she was over 40 years old and she was quite capable of making her own life choices, "thank you very much".
It was a fairly traditional ceremony, but Burt and Carole wrote their own vows. Kurt struggled not to cry because he was happy for his dad, but he also missed his mom.
After the ceremony concluded, Burt and Carole stood at the back of the church greeting people as they moved to the reception hall. They stayed behind for a few minutes to have a few photos taken of the wedding party and the bride and groom. Kurt had arranged for the band to play the first half of their set list without singers until the wedding party arrived, at which time the singers would start.
After Burt and Carole and the wedding party members were seated, the caterers brought out the food and the first half of the set started with the solos intermixed with group pieces just as Kurt had planned. Once Kurt and Finn had finished eating, they excused themselves to change their ties and cummerbunds and move to the band area.
Kurt and Finn sang "Just the Way You Are" as a duet with the rest of the group singing back up. They choreographed the first verse of the song and then Burt and Carole came up and danced while they continued to sing. The group split off into pairs and slow danced while Burt and Carole danced at the front of the group. This song was Burt's choice for their first dance and having the back up dancers helped him get over his nerves until he relaxed a bit.
Carole wanted a more latin feel to their dance and immediately after the group finished, the New Directions exited the dance floor leaving Burt and Carole to dance to "Sway", which Mr. Schuester sang quite well. The pair ended their dance with Burt dipping Carole. Burt had done a great job learning the dance and Carole was clearly pleased with how it turned out.
At that point the upbeat numbers started and the other guests moved to the dance floor. The event went smoothly and everyone had a good time. By the end of the second set, a few people had left, but not many. The wedding cake was brought out and Burt and Carole cut a slice and fed each other a bite from the slice. After that, the servers started serving slices of cake to the tables as quickly as possible. People began leaving not long after that. There were lots of hugs, handshakes, and congratulations given. Not long afterward, only Burt, Carole, Finn, and Kurt were left.
Carole left and changed into a comfortable dress and packed her wedding dress back into its bag. Kurt and Finn had already given their ties and cummerbunds to Tina to take back to the school with the rest of the costumes when the group headed out to go back and change.
Arrangements had been made that Kurt and Finn were on their own to find somewhere else to be besides home until 8:00 Sunday evening. They had both packed clothes to change into. Kurt and Finn changed and put their suits in Carole's car for her to leave at the house when they dropped her dress and off.
They had asked for no gifts, and surprisingly there were none. There was a large stack of cards, which Kurt collected and put in a gift bag he had brought with him. He gave the bag to Carole. She and Burt left to go out for the rest of the afternoon and evening.
Kurt and Finn headed off in their separate directions. Finn was off to Puck's for the evening and Kurt was on his way to Blaine's. Due to the hectic nature of their week, no one had bothered to ask Kurt where he had planned on spending the night and the day on Sunday. Kurt figured that his dad assumed he was going to Mercedes' place for the night or maybe Santana's for a girls' night, but since no one had asked him by the day before, he asked Blaine if he could stay at his house, in the guest room of course. Blaine's parents had agreed.